How to build a collaborative culture

"There is no I in team...two heads are better than one..." these are cliches that speak to working in a team, but what is true collaboration and how do we support our young learners in working with their peers emotionally, socially, and intellectually?  We are working with our students on how to work with others, but before they can work in a group it is important to for them to know their strengths and ways that they learn the best. In our fifth grade classrooms we have students take surveys to see how they learn and what some of their strengths are so they can know how they will help a group and where they may need some help themselves.

What is collaboration? - Collaborate is defined as “to work, one with another; cooperate, as on a literary work”. Collaboration is different than group work...think of a time that you worked in a group. Was there one person that did most of the work, one person that didn't listen to everyone else and one person that wasn't interested in being a part of the group? Our students are learning to being an active part of a collaborative team. At times they are given specific roles to ensure that all are involved, other times students divide up the work, or they are grouped based on their determined skill set to support the group with their strengths.

What characteristics are needed to have a collaborative culture? Trust, being open to ideas, having a safe space, a tough skin, and being open to feedback and discussions. How do you create or provide a learning environment that supports these characteristics? It starts by building relationships with your students, but just as important are the students building relationships with each other. This is done through tools to support conflict resolution, learning about their feelings and how to positively express them, and practicing team work in a variety of settings prior to them being expected to work together. We are giving and providing the tools to support collaboration and not just expecting students to play nice with each other.

What are the tools needed to create a learning environment that supports and encourages collaboration?  Time, space and people. We will continue to provide students with the opportunity to collaborate with their peers in a variety of settings and purposes.

Digital tools - Join me, Google Apps, Skype, Google +, Google Hangout, Projector Apple TV or Chromecast to showcase the product that you are working on to the group. If you are using a Google Application such as Drive (document) collaborators are able to see the changes as they happen or through the comments section in the document.

Collaboration is essential for our students to be successful in school, but also in their future pursuits.

 

Makerspace in Elementary Schools

We are very excited about our previous computer lab being transformed into a Makerspace. The new space will benefit students’ learning and creativity including content/learning outcomes, an opportunity to be creative and solve problems as well as being able to articulate ones thoughts. 

Makerspace is space for students to be creative in solving a problem. Students use a variety of objects, tools, and technology to create a solution.  Mrs. Trowell's first quarter School News Elective has created a wish list:  items needed for Makerspace start up. Problems come in many forms and we are wanting with our students with their use critical thinking in a problem solving. Students will be planning, designing and creating their solutions. 

Some Examples near us and additional information.

Hunt Library, NC State

The Forge

Success

What is success?

I was asked recently what I felt success looks like for our students. Success to me is when a student is confident in their ability to work through a problem with others and prepared for challenges that may come in the act of solving that problem. This doesn’t always look the same in every subject or grade but the characteristics and skills are similar. Success isn’t a student’s ability to break the test code or how fast they can read a grade level problem, rather it is using grit to work through a challenging situation, seek out assistance from experts when they have questions and the perseverance to figure out the solution or answer to the problem.

True success is the ability to persevere, articulate ideas and solutions, collaborate and reflect on the learning that is taking place and hopefully learning from mistakes. This is the success that I am working towards for all our students and teachers. This type of learning outcome is something that we will continue to strive for daily! We are continuously preparing our students to be problem solvers, building their grit and learning to work hard until the best solution is figured out.

We are at that time of the year where we start making financial and human resource decisions and changes to the school’s appearance. We are in the process of making changes to our learning spaces and classrooms. Often our discussions are focused on what the educator wants to do to make it easier or safer for them as the leaders of the learning and not always focused on how to support the child and their learning, but if they are not the focus then who is it benefiting? We need to continue to focus on what's best for our students and their future.